Sihanoukville, Cambodia

Today we visited Sihanoukville, Cambodia, a seaside town created in 1958 and named for the mid-20th century King Norodom Sihanouk.  Sihanoukville lies along the southwestern coast of Cambodia and has the country's only deep water port.  Its population is about 400,000.  All of Cambodia has a population of 16.25 million.  Over 4 million Cambodians were killed during the Pol Pot era (1975-79).

Somehow I got the impression from the literature we had been furnished on Sihanoukville that it was a beach resort kind of place.  I know that we were told that Jackie Kennedy stayed in a hotel on the beach here in 1968, and that may have led me to the false impression of it I had before our arrival.  Not that it was important that it be a luxury-type beach resort.  But we certainly weren't expecting what we found it really to be like.

First things first.  Our arrival was uneventful.  We were already docked when I pushed the curtains back at 6:30 this morning.  Excursion buses were lined up next to the ship and various local guides could be seen chatting as we all waited for Cambodian immigration to clear the ship and allow us to disembark.  (You can enlarge any photo by clicking on it.)

  

The port itself was quiet and lacked the heavy industrial activity characteristic of most of the ports we've visited, including those in several of the South Pacific islands.

                                  

When we went to breakfast I noticed these two Cambodian immigration officials enjoying the ship's food and hospitality on the aft deck.  There have been several amusing scenes of immigration officials from the various countries we've visited all over the ship taking selfies and eating up a storm.

We were finally cleared for disembarkation.  Janis and I elected the included half-day excursion called "Sihanoukville Discovery" thinking that we would take the provided shuttle back into town in the afternoon and just explore and maybe park ourselves at some restaurant or coffee house to update our electronic stuff, something we can't do on the ship because of its painfully slow wifi.

  

Now, I know I'm a little OCD when it comes to neatness and we've certainly traveled broadly enough to know that the culture in many places is a little relaxed in that department, but nothing has prepared me for what we saw all around us here.  And I say that even though we were in another part of Cambodia just a year ago, namely Siem Reap, to visit the temples, but that area of the country was nothing like this.  These photos are typical of what one sees along the roadside and in the center of town here in Sihanoukville.  Our guide brought up the subject of littering on his own, explaining that it seems impossible to change the habits of adults but that a concerted effort is being made in the schools to teach children to deposit trash in receptacles.  That said, we didn't notice any trash cans anywhere.

                                       

Our first excursion stop was at a fishing village.  People actually live there.  Apparently most fishermen fish at night.  Most of the people we encountered at 9 o'clock this morning were idle and some men were playing cards.  Our guide pointed out a decorated space that he said meant that yesterday there likely was a wedding there.  When asked where the newlyweds would have spent their wedding night, he replied, "On one of the boats."  You will notice bait fish spread out on a dock, as well as a religious symbol attached to the bow of a boat for good luck.  Here's a whole collage of photos of the fishing village to show you what life there is like.

           
                                                    

Our next stop was downtown Sihanoukville.

                                           

The major market in town is basically under cover and is the usual rabbit warren of stalls, etc.

   

Ninety percent of Cambodians are Buddhists and most of them believe that they have a responsibility to support the Buddhist monks who generally come from the poorest strata of society.  Here's a photo I took from a distance and then cropped showing a local couple receiving prayers from two monks and giving them some money in return.

We were next taken to the beach, one end of which is closed off as the private property of the luxury hotel that apparently hosted Jackie Kennedy.  As you can see, the beach itself and the immediate surrounding area are very attractive and contrast sharply with the rest of what we saw in Sihanoukville.

                                          

As we left the beach area, our guide pointed out the lake across the road from the beach and explained that it was the town's drinking supply.  In the water along the edge of the shoreline nearest the bus was debris of all sorts.  We couldn't imagine drinking out of it.

Our final scheduled stop before returning to the ship was a Buddhist temple.  On our way there we passed through a forested area where we could see lots of monkeys in trees.  We asked to stop so we could take a look.  What a fascinating scene: adult monkeys holding their young, pregnant monkeys, and whole families of monkeys.

         

We finally made it to the temple of Wat Krom.  Very impressive.

         

Let me share with you a few other things of interest related to us by our guide.  Life expectancy in Cambodia is between 50 and 60 years.  Effectively all Cambodians are addicted to MSG since it is used in every meal they eat.  Newborn babies are addicted as well because of the diet of their mothers.  (Having said this, we don't really understand what that addiction means.)

The king of Cambodia, Norodom Sihamoni, succeeded to the throne in 2004.  He is head of state but does not participate in politics.  The current prime minister, Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge comander, has been in office since 1985 and has become increasingly autocratic.  He also holds the position of president of the Cambodian People's Party.  He is effectively a dictator.  Our guide mentioned to a few of us that he can chance to talk politics only with visitors like us and not in a public setting where he can be overheard.  He would never talk politics with other Cambodians for fear of being taken away and never heard from again.

Tourism is Sihanoukville's number one economic driver, followed by agriculture and fishing.  Principal sources of capital for investment in this part of Cambodia come from Singapore and China.  Despite low wages and GNP, land is scarce and therefore very expensive.  Much of it has been acquired by Chinese investors.

A number of retirees from other countries, including the United States, who have fairly modest retirement incomes have moved to Cambodia where they can live better than at home.  Someone with a $1,000US monthly pension is considered wealthy here and can afford good housing and other amenities.  A number of those older retired men wind up cohabiting with much younger Cambodian women who are induced to move in with them on a promise that their parents will be sent, say, $300US monthly and they (the young women) will be provided with a decent roof over their heads, plentiful food and medical care.  These women typically come from clothing factory jobs that pay around $115US a month, if in fact they have any employment and source of income at all.  Our guide described these living arrangements with ex pats as a form of servitude.

We returned to the ship after visiting the temple and shelved the idea of going back into town this afternoon.  It is now evening and we are again at sea, this time on our way to Thailand.  We are scheduled to arrive around noon tomorrow (Wednesday, March 21) in Laem Chabang, the port that is the access point for Bangkok, and will remain there until 6 p.m. Thursday when we'll set sail for Koh Samui, Thailand's second largest island after Phuket.  More about our time in Thailand later.